Smith landed with a jolt that impacted his already stiff knees. "I do say," he exclaimed as he straightened out to his full height. He reached around to straighten his cuffs when as he realized they were no longer there. They had been replaced with smooth, grey-brown cotton.
As Smith opened his mouth to remark on his new, shapeless clothing, he was suddenly cut off by H'ver zipping by. His gaze followed the robot as it sped past him, right into a...
"Tree!" Kris yelled from behind Smith, just as H'ver came to a screeching halt inches away from one of the tallest trees Smith had ever laid eyes on
Actually, now that he looked, there were dozens of trees. Pieces fell into place in Smith's undernourished brain, "A forest!" he nearly shouted, so excited he was at the setting of familiar territory.
Kris hit him upside the head as she passed, "Thanks for pointing that out. Wouldn't of worked it out on my own, genius."
Smith rubbed the back of his head, "There is no need to be snarky."
Kris threw her braided hair back as she glared at him over her shoulder, "Must be my harlot ways," she shot back.
Smith's face scrunched in indignation, "Now wait just a minute! That was Jones who said that. I would..."
"I suppose it wouldn't be very gentleman of me to capitalize on this moment. I could think of many more harlot-like activities you could be engaged in at the moment Milady." Jones piped in.
As Kris made her way towards the very ungentleman like Mr. Jones, H'ver strolled to their side. "You are correct, Jones, sir." He said. "We should perhaps be moving on, for as by my calculations we have one-hundred-thirty-three seconds before we are surrounded. It is most probable that it will be a group of larger than three, and a two-thirds chance that they will be equipped with weaponry that compliments our surroundings."
The trio's heads turned together in the direction of the robot.
"H'ver?"
H'ver turned, "Yes, Mr. Smith, sir?"
"Did you happen to finish that tea?"
The robot's mechanical brows shot upwards, "Why yes, sir. One moment."
As H'ver and Smith saw to the tea and toast, Kris and Jones stepped deeper into the foliage. Jones pushed out a limb so they could duck under, "You don't by chance know where we've landed this time, do you?"
Kris snorted, "I do."
Jones couldn't help but notice Kris' confident steps in her knee-high boots. This would typically be the moment he would point out that the Loop had changed all their appearances this time around. Why, H'ver seemed even to have lost a bit of his shine as they landed in this wretched forest.
But not now. No, Jones had more sense than that. Even in the middle of a loop that had taken them to the edges of the unknown Jones knew when a woman was huffy.
Kris was huffy.
Therefore, Jones was silent.
But what reason would she have to be upset? thought Jones, Women and their nonsensical emotions.
As Jones followed Kris through the woods-she really did seem to know where she was going; and the view was quite spectacular—Jones' ears perked up to the noisy travelings of their companions they had left somewhere behind him, it dawned on him.
Maybe he had offended Kris in some manner. Why, what lady, in spite of her station, enjoyed being compared to a whore?
Jones was attempting to gather the words for an apology—for after all, he did feel quite bad for his rudeness- when he ran smack into Kris' form backside.
Not only was he struck by the physical contact he had initiated quite accidentally, but something else struck him.
"Why Kris, you smell quite lovely," Jones said, much to his embarrassment.
"Shhh!" Kris hissed at him as she reached up and pulled him downward. Jones crouched beside her. Only then did he see they had reached the edge of the forest. And beyond it...
"Civilization!" Mr. Smith all but yelled from just behind them.
"Shut your traps, both of you, before they hear you." Kris snapped from her perch behind the brush.
The four companions crouched shoulder-to-shoulder, "What is it?" Smith asked in a much more subdued voice.
Kris rolled her eyes, "It's a colony, idiot. What do you think it is?"
"It's actually a commune," H'ver piped in from the far end of the line. The robot cleared his throat, "A commune is a type of colony, however not all communes are colonies. If you would like I could..." His words faltered as Kris turned her poisonous glare upon him. Apparently robots could tell when women were huffy as well. Good man.
"Where are we?" Smith asked, oblivious to the tension around him.
"Deep in the Appalachians by the look of it," Kris said. "Looks a lot like home to me."
"Yes," a voice said from the other side of the brush. Kris, Smith, Jones, and H'ver all gave a start. A woman with a thick brown braid streaked with grey smiled at them, hands clasped in front of her chest. She was dressed in the same monochromatic pallet as the rest of them, pants tidily tucked into sturdy boots that laced nearly to her knee.
"Welcome home friends," she finished. "I am Sarah. Come," and with that, the smiling lady turned her back to our four loop travelers, two of whom were catching flies in their mouths.
"Do we follow her?" Jones asked quietly to no one in particular.
Kris stood, brushing off her pants, and swing her red hair back over her shoulder, "Might as well," she said, stepping into the clearing.
"At least she doesn't have any weapons." Jones said, following behind her.
Smith huffed quietly, "That we can see."
The trio followed in the wake of their welcomer, H'ver humming quietly behind her. As they walked, the soft ground gave way gently behind their boots. With every step, Kris' typically sharp state gave way with the familiarity of her homeland.
Jones, however, felt his hackles rise as they passed one log cabin after another, eerie similar in their in their shape and size. "I don't like this," he whispered over his shoulder to Smith. "Where are the guns? The aliens? This is too... too..."
"Perfect?" Smith supplied.
"Yes!" Jones hissed.
H'ver held up a finger, "Actually, sir, you are correct?"
Jones' brows shot up, "What do you mean, H'ver?"
"Well sir, it seems to me that we have most likely landed in some sort of dystopian scene." He cleared his throat as if the wood smoke around them was tickling his throat as well. "It is the most logical explanation."
"If we are..." Smith never had the pleasure of completing his sentence for the quiet that surrounded them cut him off more effectively than a thousand shouting voices.
"Please, join our circle," Sarah gestured behind her with a polite smile on her face. The cabins had opened up to an immense clearing, filled with people, all seated quietly in a circle, as if they were waiting on something. Kris smiled at Sarah, returning her amiable expression.
"Well, it looks as if we found our mob," Smith muttered.
"Quiet!" Jones hissed back at him as they followed Kris to their seats. The members of the commune moved gently aside to allow them room and passage, each with the same look as Sarah about their faces.
"It's a bit creepy how they look at us, if you ask me," piped Smith.
Kris shot him a warning look. Although her volume was hushed to meet the atmosphere, her tone was no less venomous, "Maybe they're just happy, sir. Can't fault 'em for that. Now shut your trap."
"Actually," H'ver started in his normal tone, oblivious to his serene surroundings, "given the likelihood of loop's delivery, they are most likely drugged." Kris and Jones' heads swung to the direction of the Robot as Jones looked around to see if anyone had noticed his words.
"H'ver..." Jones started.
"It is true, sir." H'ver said innocently, "Most likely in the food they supply for one another, or the water. I would stay away from refreshment while we are here. Unless, of course, it is supplied by one such as myself."
"Creepy, I do say." Smith added.
"Well, I like it," Kris said, settling back into her seat, eyes forward. Whatever was going on was about to take place. "No one is pissed and trying to kill us. It's a nice change of pace." Sarah watched from the center of the circle as four men worked together to bring something heavy to the center. It was on a slab, one man at each corner, with a sheet thrown over it's lumpy top. "People bein' nice to one another is nothing to scoff at." Kris threw in as the item of interest was place on the center dais, the mood tangibly shifted. "We should enjoy the peace while we... THAT"S MY COMMUNICATOR!"
Sarah had removed the sheet from the mystery item to reveal a bulky, primitive piece of metal that looked much out of place in the scenic beauty of the forest.
That serenity was quickly shattered as Kris made her way straight down through the crowds of grey-clad people, yelling as she went.
"STUPID BUNCH OF THEIVES!" she hollered, "Taking a girl's power converter!" She separated heads as she lumbered through the crowds.
"Sorry," Smith said as the rest of the group followed precariously behind her. "Excuse us." He patted down the mussed hair of an elderly woman, "Pardon me."
Jones, looking frantically around, pulled at Smith's sleeve, "Smith," he said with no answer. They kept cutting through the crowd, the voices around them rising together. "Smith," he tried again, as the voices became louder.
But it was of no use. The voices around them rose, each individual lending their quiet voice to the chant that was building with every step they took.
"Damn inbreeds!" Kris kept on, now only steps away from the dais. "Give me back..." she was effectively cut off both in speech and in progress as three of the men who had assisted Sarah stepped in front of her.
"What's going on here?" Smith demanded as they halted behind her.
"What's the meaning of this?" demanded Jones.
Sarah held up her hand, silencing the eerie chorus of what sounded peculiarly like the chorus of Kumbaya with that single gesture.
"You are angry," Sarah stated, never deterring from that trademark look.
"Bet your ass I'm angry!" Kris shouted from behind the barricade of men. She was just beyond arm's length from the alleged communicator. "You stole that from me!"
A gasp sounded about the crowd. Sarah looked confused, "I am afraid there is no reasoning with you. You have wandered from the path."
"Path?" Kris spat. "What path?"
The men moved forward, seizing her and the others by the arms.
"I do say," Smith stated. "What is going on here?"
Sarah moved closer as the crowd behind them parted, making a path for the men to walk through. "I think you may need a reset," she said, looking straight into Kris' crisp green gaze. Then to the others she held out her hand, "I think they may all need resetting."
"Reset," the crowd said together. "Reset." they said again, then they went on, the same cadence as a heartbeat, "Reset, reset, reset..."
Kris struggled in her captors' arms, "I don't need no reset!" she yelled. "I just need that!"
But what she needed exactly was being cut off from her view by people filling in behind her. The men whose grips were surprisingly strong, began to escort them back towards the cabins.
"I do say, I would have rather have faced an angry mom and a handful of pistols compared to this." Jones remarked.
Behind him, Kris was still struggling against her captors, "Get off me!" she yelled, bringing her heel down on one foot, he released her hold on her. The other seemed even more surprised when Kris' left fist collided with his face.
"Kris!" Smith shouted, pulling at his captors as the woman pushed her way through the grey-clad crowd.
Kris jumped, pushing one foot off the hip of an innocent bystander, leaping towards the communicator, arm outstretched.
It was the last thing Smith laid eyes on before he was blinded by a flash of bright, white light.